---
title: "Roofer"
description: "Cover roofs of structures with shingles, slate, asphalt, aluminum, wood, or related materials. May spray roofs, sidings, and walls with material to bind…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/roofer"
last-updated: "2026-08-23T15:56:39.581Z"
---

# Roofer

**Category:** Construction and Extraction · **SOC code:** 47-2181 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 47-2181.00

Cover roofs of structures with shingles, slate, asphalt, aluminum, wood, or related materials. May spray roofs, sidings, and walls with material to bind, seal, insulate, or soundproof sections of structures.

Also advertised as: Commercial Roofer; Industrial Roofer; Metal Roofing Mechanic; Residential Roofer; Roof Mechanic; Roof Service Technician; Roofer; Roofing Technician.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $55,440 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $26.65/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $37,460 to $81,720, with the middle half between $46,260 and $65,390
- **Total US employment:** 135,490
- **Typical entry education:** No formal credential
- **Preparation required:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +5.9% over 2024–2034 (BLS EP, 2024–2034)
- **Annual job openings:** 12,700 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 72/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 135,490 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $37,460 |
| 25th | $46,260 |
| 50th (median) | $55,440 |
| 75th | $65,390 |
| 90th | $81,720 |
| Mean (average) | $58,140 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| IL | $77,900 | $77,933 | 5,300 |
| NJ | $76,600 | $70,401 | 1,860 |
| MN | $74,490 | $75,532 | 1,890 |
| MA | $72,750 | $68,790 | 1,950 |
| AK | $66,750 | $65,212 | 310 |
| NY | $66,020 | $61,174 | 4,570 |
| CA | $63,600 | $57,442 | 21,190 |
| CT | $62,070 | $59,907 | 790 |
| DC | $61,750 | $56,187 | 100 |
| RI | $61,630 | $60,256 | 360 |
| WA | $60,640 | $56,666 | 5,890 |
| MD | $60,090 | $57,251 | 2,050 |
| NH | $59,830 | $57,438 | 270 |
| ND | $59,740 | $67,155 | 290 |
| HI | $59,580 | $54,188 | 1,110 |

37 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 52 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/roofer/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/roofer.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 166,700 in the 2024–2034 base year to 176,500 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 9,800 jobs, or +5.9%. Faster than average: 5.9% against 3.1% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 12,700 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2024–2034.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** No formal educational credential (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Little or no preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Moderate-term on-the-job training.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| High School Diploma | 48.9% |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 26.1% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 10.8% |
| Some College Courses | 7.5% |
| First Professional Degree | 2.4% |
| Doctoral Degree | 2.1% |

## What the work involves

- Remove snow, water, or debris from roofs prior to applying roofing materials.
- Waterproof or damp-proof walls, floors, roofs, foundations, or basements by painting or spraying surfaces with waterproof coatings or by attaching waterproofing membranes to surfaces.
- Install, repair, or replace single-ply roofing systems, using waterproof sheet materials such as modified plastics, elastomeric, or other asphaltic compositions.
- Inspect problem roofs to determine the best repair procedures.
- Apply reflective roof coatings, such as special paints or single-ply roofing sheets, to existing roofs to reduce solar heat absorption.
- Attach roofing paper to roofs in overlapping strips to form bases for other materials.
- Install vapor barriers or layers of insulation on flat roofs.
- Cover roofs or exterior walls of structures with slate, asphalt, aluminum, wood, gravel, gypsum, or related materials, using brushes, knives, punches, hammers, or other tools.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Active Listening — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 2.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 2.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Coordination — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Monitoring — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operation and Control — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 2.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Instructing — importance 2.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Building and Construction — importance 4.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Public Safety and Security — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 3.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Gross Body Equilibrium — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Trunk Strength — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Extent Flexibility — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Near Vision — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Arm-Hand Steadiness — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Realistic (R), Conventional (C).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 7.00 |
| C — Conventional | 3.54 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.59 |
| S — Social | 1.48 |
| I — Investigative | 1.30 |
| A — Artistic | 1.21 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 83.8 |
| ISFJ | 72.9 |
| ESTJ | 72.4 |
| ISTP | 72.1 |
| ESTP | 60.6 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Helpers--Roofer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/helpers-roofer) — median $44,160
- [Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/drywall-and-ceiling-tile-installer) — median $58,930
- [Insulation Worker, Floor, Ceiling, and Wall](https://nuecareer.com/careers/insulation-worker-floor-ceiling-and-wall) — median $49,120
- [Plasterer and Stucco Mason](https://nuecareer.com/careers/plasterer-and-stucco-mason) — median $57,660
- [Floor Layer, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles](https://nuecareer.com/careers/floor-layer) — median $56,460
- [Insulation Worker, Mechanical](https://nuecareer.com/careers/insulation-worker-mechanical) — median $58,340
- [Carpenter](https://nuecareer.com/careers/carpenter) — median $60,580
- [Helpers--Brickmason, Blockmason, Stonemason, and Tile and Marble Setter](https://nuecareer.com/careers/helpers-brickmason-blockmason-stonemason-and-tile-and-marble-setter) — median $47,550
- [Tile and Stone Setter](https://nuecareer.com/careers/tile-and-stone-setter) — median $55,690
- [Terrazzo Worker and Finisher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/terrazzo-worker-and-finisher) — median $76,170

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 30.3 Database, May 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2024–2034. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024–2034 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/roofer